


Of Daemons and Dinosaurs

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Blue is Owen's daemon, Spoilers, Tags to be added as necessary, daemon AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-05 22:16:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4197021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who better than a man with a dinosaur daemon to work with real-life dinosaurs?</p><p>(A Jurassic World daemon AU).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Owen & Blue

**Author's Note:**

> If I set up a Jurassic Park and Jurassic World commentfic meme page on my dreamwidth account, would anyone want to participate in leaving prompts and/or writing fic? Just curious.
> 
> ETA: Commentfic meme can now be found at http://aceofannwn.dreamwidth.org/1045.html Anon commenting should be on, so let me know if it's not. Please feel free to promote the meme to anyone you think might be interested. :)

**Chapter One**

Owen had always been interested in dinosaurs, for as long as he could remember. He’d spent his childhood playing with dinosaur figures, reading books about them, and watching the damn _The Land Before Time_ movie over and over again. (The original, mind you – not the string of endless crappy sequels.) By the time he was eight years old he was a walking encyclopaedia of dinosaur facts, which he was happy to share with anyone who stayed still long enough.

Maybe that was why, when Owen was twelve, Blue settled on the form she did.

There were all kinds of theories about how daemons chose their final shape, but everyone agreed that the animal they settled on reflected their nature and that of the human they were connected to.

Owen wasn’t sure what it said about him and Blue, that his daemon was a goddamn dinosaur.

He’d woken up one day, aged twelve, to see a dinosaur staring at him from beside the bed. She was the same height he was, with blue stripes down her sides and big, intelligent, calculating eyes. Blue had been in the habit of taking animal forms on a whim, the way all kids’ daemons did before they settled, but Owen had known instantly that Blue was never going to change shape again for as long as Owen lived.

Blue had held herself proudly on display as Owen looked her over. Finally Owen said, “This is _so_ cool, Blue,” and rubbed the side of her jaw in affection. Blue had playfully head-butted him, and the two of them had wandered downstairs to get breakfast.

Owen’s Mom had actually screamed when she saw the dinosaur coming down the stairs behind Owen. It was still one of the funniest things Owen had ever seen.

Going through school with a dinosaur for a daemon had been an experience. Owen had always been a pretty weedy kid (right up until puberty really hit, at least), but after Blue settled, people were a lot more wary of him. Kids skirted around him in the hallways, giving him a wide berth, and teachers eyed him askance. Only one kid, a guy with a wolf daemon, ever gave Owen trouble.

He’d bailed Owen up in the changing rooms after gym, trying to threaten Owen out of his lunch money. It might even have worked – Owen had sized up the guy, and knew he was a good half a foot taller and a lot heavier than Owen was, and the last thing he wanted was to have his face rearranged – except that the next minute, Blue did the unthinkable.

She’d pounced on the other kid’s daemon, knocking the wolf daemon to the floor, and rested one clawed foot delicately against the daemon’s vulnerable throat.

Demons sometimes touched each other, if their humans were close, but they didn’t _attack_ each other. Not like this.

Owen had never seen anybody turn so white so fast. The bully let go of him and backed away, looking at Owen like he’d never seen him before.  And Owen? Owen had straightened his shirt, taken a good long look at the scene, and looked back at the other kid. His voice had been perfectly even when he said, “You’re not going to do that again, are you?”

The bully had stammered out a _no_ , and a _please_ , and Owen had nodded to Blue, his pulse thumping in his ears. Blue had let out a disgusted hiss, and backed away, letting the wolf daemon up without ever losing her aggressive posture, and the kid and his daemon had fled the changing rooms without another word.

And Owen had stood there, Blue next to him, and quietly said, “Good girl, Blue,” without feeling the slightest bit guilty.

All he knew was that it was suddenly clear to him why he had a dinosaur for a daemon in the first place. Maybe someone else would have been horrified by what had just happened, but Owen?

Owen was just glad that Blue would always have his back. No matter what she had to do to guard it.

* * *

Owen had joined the Navy when he turned eighteen. He wanted excitement and adventure, and figured that the military was the perfect place for him.

He still remembered when he’d walked into the barracks to join the other recruits in training. A lot of people who went into the military had more fearsome daemons than most people – eagles, wolves, big cats like lions and tigers, komodo dragons and the like – but when Owen walked in with Blue behind him there was instant silence.

Owen tried to make up for it by being as affable and laid-back as he could, but Blue was always in the background, assessing their surroundings for trouble and preparing to do something about it. Even the other people with formidable daemons were mostly uneasy around him.

After all, a dinosaur was one hell of a predator, and it didn’t pay to forget what someone’s daemon was. A daemon was a person’s true nature laid bare, as the ancient philosophers used to say. It was best to trust a daemon’s shape over the face their person presented.

Later, once Owen became part of a team, things were easier; his teammates trusted him and Blue to watch their backs. Owen became known for remaining calm in the most fraught situations, and people outside of his team tended to refer to him as ‘the crazy dinosaur guy.’

Leaving the Navy, when the time came, felt like the right decision: Owen wasn’t as young as he used to be, and he felt he needed a career change. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life jumping to follow someone else’s orders. He wanted something new, something different.

A week after leaving the Navy, he got a call from Jurassic World.


	2. Jurassic World

**Chapter Two**

“So tell me, Ms Dearing,” said Owen, as soon as he’d stepped out of the helicopter, pulling his luggage behind him while Blue followed him, and been introduced to the stunning redhead waiting near the helicopter pad. “Why was Jurassic World so desperate to recruit me, and what, exactly, will I be doing here?”

Ms Dearing smiled. Her daemon was some kind of small mammal, riding on her shoulder and staring unabashedly at Blue, who was eyeing the creature with her head tilted. Ms Dearing’s smile was practiced and impersonal. Owen wondered what it took to make that smile genuine.

“Who better to deal with dinosaurs than someone with a dinosaur daemon?” Dearing asked rhetorically. “Your daemon’s final form caused quite some interest in the scientific community. I read some of the papers.”

“Right,” said Owen. He still felt a bit uncomfortable about the fact that Blue had garnered so much academic interest, and knowing that Dearing had read some of the papers made him feel a little uneasy. It wasn’t polite to show too much interest in someone else’s daemon unless you were very close emotionally.

“The one by the palaeontologist who visited you when you were fifteen was particularly interesting,” Dearing went on. “According to her paper, your daemon is definitely a dromaeosaur, probably either an over-sized velociprator or a deinonychus.”

“That’s what she told me,” said Owen. Blue growled a little.

Dearing showed no signs of surprise or intimidation; barring a brief glance in Blue’s direction, she gave no sign she’d even heard Blue’s disgruntled sound. Owen was impressed in spite of himself.

“Why is Blue’s final form relevant?” Owen asked. Dearing smiled again.

“The reason we recruited you is that we plan to produce a number of velociraptors for the park,” she said. “We want you to be their handler.”

Owen stopped dead. Dearing kept walking. After a second Owen moved to catch up with her.

“Are you serious?”

“Very serious, Mr Grady.” Owen thought her smile looked a little more genuine this time, pleased by Owen’s surprise. “Your service record speaks for itself. You’re exactly the sort of person we want dealing with our velociraptors. All you need to do is sign the contract.”

Owen turned his head to meet Blue’s eyes.

“What do you think?” he asked her.

Blue looked considering, before letting out a small trill.

“Sounds exciting,” she said at last, and Owen knew that he wouldn’t get anything more out of her.

Owen turned back to Dearing, who was waiting with an air of expectation.

“I have zero training with wild animals,” he said.

“We know,” said Dearing. “That’s why you’d be training with some of the other handlers to begin with. I was thinking the Baryonyx or Metriacanthosaurus handlers.”

Owen recognised the name ‘Baryonyx.’

“Aren’t those… _large_ dinosaurs?” he asked. “And predatory?”

“Compared to something like an apatosaur, they really aren’t that big,” said Dearing. “Predatory, yes, but Jurassic World is perfectly safe as long as you follow regulations.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” said Owen. The two of them came to a large building, and Owen and Blue followed Dearing inside.

“Mr Dubois,” said Dearing pleasantly. “This is Mr Grady. Mr Dubois will be your supervisor until you find your feet,” she added to Owen.

Dubois and Owen sized each other up for a moment, Owen taking in the snake daemon curled around Dubois’ shoulders, Dubois’s gaze going to Blue, who was looking him over with predatory calculation.

“Good morning,” said Dubois, and offered a hand for Owen to shake. Owen shook it, noting Dubois’ firm grip.

“Same to you,” said Owen.

“Please, call me Barry,” Dubois added. “Most of us don’t stand on ceremony here in the park.”

“Then call me Owen,” said Owen.

“Mr Dubois will show you around,” said Dearing, interrupting the exchange. “You can review and sign the employee contract later this afternoon. Good day, Mr Grady. I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing the park.” She sent one more polite smile in their direction, before walking off, leaving Owen and Barry alone.

“Is she always like that?” Owen asked, falling into step with Barry as he began to move.

Barry made a slight face.

“It’s her job,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind so much if her demon wasn’t a mongoose.” He patted his snake daemon protectively.

“Huh,” said Owen. “So that’s what it was.”

“Prey,” said Blue dismissively, startling Barry.

“Hey, no, we’ve talked about this,” Owen said, stopping to glare at Blue. “You can’t go around calling people’s daemons prey. It makes them uncomfortable.”

Blue only let out a hiss of amusement.

Owen looked back at Barry to see him looking unnerved.

“Sorry,” Owen apologised, carefully keeping his own pose relaxed and casual, to counteract Blue’s threatening stance. “Blue isn’t really sociable.”

“Neither is my Adeline, but she doesn’t go around calling other daemons ‘prey’, either,” Barry said warily. “There something I should know about you?”

Owen groaned.

“No! Look, I just got out of the military, and if someone tries to make trouble I’ll fuck them up, but otherwise I’m a pretty easygoing guy, I swear. Blue is just…” Not the for the first time, Owen struggled to explain his daemon. “She likes to freak people out, that’s all. Finds it amusing.”

Blue let out a snort. Barry was still looking wary, but he slowly nodded.

“Okay. So long as there isn’t going to be trouble.”

“If there is, it won’t be me starting it,” Owen promised him.

Barry nodded, accepting this. Adeline stretched her neck out in Blue’s direction, tongue flickering in and out. Blue regarded her curiously.

“Hi,” said Adeline. Blue let out a trill in response, before swinging her head in the direction of the door.

“So, you’re going to give me the tour?” Owen prompted. Barry grinned.

“Come on then, and let’s see what you think of the premiere theme park in the world,” he said. "You can leave your luggage in the office, and then I'll give you the full tour."

Owen followed him out of the building.

* * *

The tour of the park took a good hour and a half.

Owen got to see both the public areas and behind the scenes as he walked around with Barry. Heads turned in Blue’s direction as she walked past, people uncertain whether she was a daemon or an escaped dinosaur. A couple of small kids reached out their hands towards her, only to have Blue snap her jaws at them. They were quickly pulled away by their parents, who scolded them for trying to touch another person’s daemon.

The park was, Owen had to admit, pretty impressive. The dinosaurs most of all.

“And this is the Barynoyx paddock,” said Barry at last. “This is where you’ll be doing your training. We don’t go into the paddock itself unless we have to – most of our job is done at a distance. Come on, I’ll take you into the viewing room.”

The viewing room was a small room above the Baryonyx paddock, with a huge glass window so that visitors could see down into the enclosure. Owen peered downwards, but couldn’t see anything besides trees and a large lake. Blue stirred restlessly.

“Are they planning to set something like this up for the raptors?” Owen asked, remembering what Dearing had told him.

“Probably,” said Barry. “It’d be too dangerous otherwise, I think. I’ve heard stories about the original raptors from Jurassic Park. It’s enough to make your skin crawl.”

“Jurassic Park?” Owen asked, raising his eyebrows.

Barry’s eyes lit up.

“No one’s told you about the first park? The original one? Oh, this is going to be good. Come on, let’s head down to the staff commissary, and I’ll tell you all about it over lunch.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Owen.

Thirteen years before Jurassic World had opened, Owen discovered over lunch, there had been another dinosaur park – Jurassic Park. Everything had gone smoothly until one of the employees had shut down the security systems – including the perimeter fences for the dinosaur enclosures – and tried to escape the island with several stolen dinosaur embryos.

“They think he was trying to sneak them out to one of InGen’s competitors,” Barry explained. “But wherever he was going, he never made it. They found him in the park – what was left of him, anyway. A dinosaur had got him.”

Owen winced.

“Nasty.”

“Oh, it gets worse,” said Barry, with relish. “Because the electrified fences were all down, the dinosaurs were all able to escape. Including the raptors.” He glanced at Blue, who was watching Owen eat. “Look at your girl, and imagine something like her: large, intelligent, and very, very hostile. That’s what they were facing.”

“So what happened?” Owen wanted to know.

“Only a handful of people got off the island alive,” said Barry. “Everyone else was killed by the raptors. The park was shut down before it ever even opened, and the idea was mothballed for over a decade before Masrani Global teamed up with InGen to build Jurassic World.”

Owen mulled that over.

“What happened to the survivors?”

Barry shrugged.

“One of them was a palaeontologist, sent us a paper he’d written on the raptors. Useful stuff, actually. You should ask for a copy. Then there was this other guy –  when the park opened he kept telling the media it was going to go horribly wrong.”

“Well, it hasn’t so far,” Owen observed. Barry made a sound of agreement.

“Still, who can blame him? I heard he almost died himself. That would be enough to turn anybody against the idea.”

“The park is perfectly safe,” said Adeline to Blue. Blue didn’t bother to respond. Adeline gave an annoyed hiss, and began travelling slowly up Barry’s arm to wrap around Barry’s shoulders.

“So, you’ve had a look around,” said Barry. “What do you think? Want to work here?”

“You know,” said Owen thoughtfully, “I think I do.”

“Then good luck,” said Barry. “You’re going to need it.”


	3. Delta

**Chapter Three**

Word soon got around that there was a new handler with a dinosaur daemon, and wherever Owen went, curious glances followed him and Blue. Most people stayed clear of him though, intimidated by Blue’s predatory behaviour. The only one who didn’t seem to mind being around Owen was Barry.

For the first three months, Owen worked with the other dinosaur handlers, getting familiar with the work. Usually Owen worked with Barry and the Baryonyx, but sometimes he was assigned to work with other handlers and their charges. The other handlers were usually polite enough as they gave him tips and instructions on how to do his job, but even the ones accustomed to working with dangerous dinosaurs eyed Owen and Blue uneasily. Still, people had been looking at them like that ever since Blue had settled, so it wasn’t anything new; Owen was used to it. Aside from the attitudes of the people around him, Owen was mostly enjoying the novelty of his new job, waiting for the scientists to finish developing a complete genetic sequence for the veliciraptors while he learnt all about the new responsibilities that came with his position.

Really, the only downside of Owen’s job was Vic Hoskins.

The man was insincere and smarmy, and liked lording his position as InGen’s representative over the other handlers, interfering with the day-to-day running of the park. While Owen understood that InGen needed someone on the ground to take care of their interests, he wished it didn’t have to be Vic. Owen was just glad that he didn’t have to deal with the man all the time. Owen didn’t like Vic much.

Blue, though? Blue _hated_ him.

The first time Owen and Vic had met, Vic held out a hand, fake smile all over his face, stoat daemon at his heels, and said, “So you’re the new guy.”

Owen shook his hand reluctantly. He was used to assessing people, and didn’t like the feeling he was getting off Vic. Still, the word was that this guy would be Owen’s boss once the velociraptor project got off the ground, so it didn’t pay to be rude.

“Owen Grady,” he said, instead of something sarcastic.

“Vic Hoskins,” said Vic, still smiling that toothy false smile. “This is your daemon, huh?” His gaze on Blue was appraising, almost greedy.

“Yeah, this is Blue,” said Owen neutrally.

“Wow, a dinosaur daemon,” said Vic. “That must make you pretty special.”

Owen definitely didn’t like the look Vic gave him then. Blue growled, low in her throat.

Vic laughed, apparently delighted by the display of hostility. His daemon hid behind his legs.

“Ooh, she’s a fierce one!” Vic chuckled, apparently unaware of his daemon’s fearful reaction. “I’m sure you’ll fit right in with the raptors.”

“Maybe,” Owen allowed. He’d tried to get the rest of the conversation over with as quickly as possible. When Vic was finally gone, stoat daemon following after him, Owen and Blue looked at each other.

“It would be so easy to eviscerate him,” Blue said thoughtfully.

“Blue, _no_ ,” Owen scolded, even though he kind of felt the same. “No attacking innocent civilians, remember? Besides, guy is going to be our boss.”

Blue hissed at the idea, and Owen patted her neck.

“Yeah, I know,” he said sympathetically. “But on the other hand, _raptors_. That’s got to be worth it, right?”

“We’ll see,” Blue had said, refusing to be mollified.

Owen had met Vic several times since then, and Blue wasn’t subtle about her hatred for the man. Owen figured it was just something they had to put up with.

For the moment Owen was staying in an apartment in the staff housing complex, but there had been noises made about building him a bungalow near the velociraptor enclosure, once it was completed.

Three months after he’d started working at Jurassic World, the scientists created their first raptor embryo.

* * *

Owen was there for the hatching. They called him at five in the morning, telling him to get there _right now_ , and Owen barely stopped to change clothes before running up to the labs.

According to the scientists, the raptor would imprint on the first living thing she saw and smelled, much like a baby bird. If Owen was to have any hope of control over the animals InGen planned to produce, the way the park wanted him to, then he needed the tiny dinosaur to imprint on him.

So Owen stood there in the hatching room, watching as tiny cracks appeared in the surface of the egg. Vic kept shouting instructions at him from the hallway outside, the sound muffled by the glass windows, but Owen ignored him, keeping his eyes locked on the egg. Blue kept making low crooning noises, which seemed to encourage the baby raptor in its attempts to escape its egg.

Eventually a tiny snout appeared in the hole it had made in the egg’s surface. Owen gently patted the snout with his index finger. The snout withdrew with a tiny, high-pitched snarl, and Blue crooned reassuringly. The snout reappeared a moment later, and Owen held his hand close to the egg, letting the baby raptor get a good whiff of his scent.

He withdrew his hand as the little animal continued its efforts to break out of the egg, watching as piece after piece of eggshell slowly fell away. Finally, the baby raptor was out, moving weakly, her tiny yellow eyes fixed on Owen.

“Feel free to pick her up,” said Dr Wu, smiling benevolently. “Just be gentle.”

“Right,” Owen muttered, and did as Dr Wu suggested. The little raptor struggled at first, alarmed by Owen’s actions, then relaxed into the warmth of his palm when it became clear that the raptor wasn’t about to be eaten.

Owen stared down, entranced by the sight. The baby raptor’s head was huge compared to her body, with great big eyes that were staring up at him. Her skin was a dark, mottled green, with darker green stripes along her sides. She looked like she’d blend well into a forest environment.

“Hey there,” Owen murmured to the baby raptor, which let out a small squeak. Blue was still crooning away, and the raptor seemed content to lie where she was, exhausted by her exit from its egg. “Does she have a name?” Owen asked Dr Wu.

“We decided to leave that up to you,” said Dr Wu pleasantly. He ushered over an assistant, who had just appeared with a bowl containing tiny cubes of raw meat. “She’ll need to eat as soon as possible. It’s best if you feed her, get her used to your presence.”

So Owen took one of the cubes of meat between his fingertips, and cautiously held it out towards the little raptor’s snout. The baby raptor stirred, and opened its jaws, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth which quickly snapped up the cube of meat. After a moment the raptor moved, struggling to her feet, and looked around expectantly. Owen took a second cube, and held it out to her, careful to keep his fingers out of the way of the baby raptor’s small but toothy jaws as she grabbed the piece of meat.

“She looks like me,” Blue said suddenly, craning her head to peer over Owen’s shoulder. Owen glanced at Blue, and looked back down at the baby raptor. It was true: the baby raptor looked a lot like a smaller, greener version of Owen’s daemon. “Does that mean I’m definitely a raptor?”

“I guess so,” Owen murmured.

“Congratulations,” said Dr Wu, without looking up from his clipboard, where he was busily taking notes.

“I think I’ll call you Delta,” Owen told the baby raptor. He looked back at Dr Wu. “How long before you create the other raptors?”

“Give us a month to monitor her development and behaviour,” Dr Wu said briskly. “If everything appears to be progressing well, we’ll begin creating the second embryo.”

“How many are you hoping to make?” Owen asked.

“I believe the number we settled on was three,” Dr Wu replied.

There was a forlorn creel from the baby raptor, and Owen quickly took another piece of meat from the bowl and fed it to her. Blue’s yellow eyes never wavered from the tiny hatchling. Owen knew without asking that she shared his sense of wonder.

The baby raptor ate until she was full, before she fell into the same crouching position that Blue assumed when she slept, tucked her head under one small arm, and promptly closed her eyes.

“Uh…” said Owen, looking around for help. He wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t stand around holding the raptor all day.

“We’ll take you to the raptor nursery,” Dr Wu said, finishing up whatever he was writing on his clipboard, and smiling at Owen. “If you’ll follow?”

So, holding the snoozing baby raptor in his hands, Owen followed Dr Wu into a different section of the lab. He found himself in a large, well lit room, with a penned-off area in one corner. The pen was lined with what looked like wood shavings, and held a bowl of water, what looked like several dog toys, and a large wooden box lying on its side, lined with some kind of soft material.

Dr Wu opened the gate into the pen, and Owen walked inside. He put his hand down inside the box, and nudged the sleeping raptor. She woke, making irritable sounds, and Owen gently nudged her off his palm into the box. Blue crowded up against him, sticking her head over his shoulder, and to Owen’s surprise, nudged the tiny raptor with her snout. It was undoubtedly a caring gesture, but one that was totally unexpected. Daemons didn’t like to touch other people unless that person was very close to the person they belonged to, and as far as Owen knew, didn’t usually like to be touched by animals at all (although such encounters did of course happen sometimes, because animals were often curious about daemons).

Owen turned his head to meet Blue’s eyes. She nudged him affectionately, just the way she’d done with the hatchling, and turned to investigate the rest of the pen.

“I take it you’re already feeling a connection with the animal,” Dr Wu observed, having been watching Owen intently the entire time.

“I guess.”

“That’s very good,” said Dr Wu. “They pick up on these things, you know – we know from the triceratops and some of the other dinosaurs that they seem to be able to sense insincere displays of affection. Now, let’s go over the hatchling’s feeding schedule. You’ll need to feed her every half hour to forty minutes for the first few days –”

“ _Every half hour?_ ” Owen blurted, aghast.

“Oh yes,” said Dr Wu serenely. “Young dinosaurs need frequent feeding. So, every half hour to forty minutes for the first few days, which can then be dropped down to every two hours  - we’ll let you know when the hatching has reached the right developmental period for that. We’ll have people in here monitoring her, of course, but it’s best if you feed her personally, to affirm the imprinting bond.”

Owen took a deep breath, held it for a second, and exhaled.

“I guess I’d better get an alarm clock and some bedding and bunk down in here for the next few days,” he said at last.

“Probably a good idea,” Dr Wu agreed. Owen shook his head, and sighed heavily.

Blue let an amused trill.

“Hey, don’t laugh,” Owen warned. “Because you’re going to be right there with me.”

Blue snorted.

This, Owen thought, was _not_ going to be a fun few days.

* * *

“So, what is it like, being a single parent?” Barry asked, grinning, the next time Owen saw him. Owen had been eating in the staff commissary when Barry had walked over, asking his question.

By this point little Delta only needed feeding every two hours, which while not ideal, was a hell of a lot better than her every-half-hour schedule.

“I hear it is busy,” Barry added.

“Don’t even joke about it, man,” Owen groaned, feeling exhausted and grouchy. Blue hissed at Barry and raised her clawed hands threateningly, feeling much the same way as Owen did. “Five days, feeding her every half hour! I miss sleep. Like, I have vivid daydreams of what being in bed would feel like. Did I mention I’ve been sleeping on the floor? For half-hour bursts?”

“I’m not surprised to hear it,” Barry said, looking at him critically. “You look terrible.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, I have some good news for you,” said Barry. “Apparently your complaining did some good, because I’m being moved from the Baryonyx to join you looking after the raptors.”

Owen had to blink a few times before he understood what Barry had just said. Then –

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. Ms Dearing spoke to me this morning. Dr Wu suggested that you could use some help, what with the raptor feeding schedule being what it is.”

“I could cry,” Owen announced. “Buddy, you’ve just made my day. Know what this means? We can work in _shifts_. I might actually get a few hours uninterrupted sleep.”

“Sleep!” Blue exclaimed yearningly, which made Barry and Adeline laugh.

“When are you being transferred?” Owen asked. “Officially?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Barry told him. “You’re the senior handler, which is bullshit because I have years more experience, but apparently the raptor imprinted on you, or something.”

“Her name is Delta,” said Owen, feeling his expression soften a little. The baby raptor was a playful little thing so far, pouncing on her toys and on Owen’s boots. At the moment she was too small to be dangerous – although Owen had avoided being bitten, because those teeth were sharp – but Owen could only imagine what she’d be like when she was older.

Delta treated Owen and Blue like they were her parents, crying out for their attention and responding appropriately to praise or chastisement. She paid attention to Blue in particular, apparently understanding Blue’s barks and hissing more easily than Owen’s human tones.

Barry nudged him.

“You look like a proud father, try and look more stoic,” Barry advised. “No one’s going to take you seriously if you fuss over the animals.”

Owen smiled at him.

“Really?” Owen asked innocently, while Blue yawned widely, showing off her razor-like teeth.

“Stop showing off,” Adeline told Blue. Blue eyed Adeline for a second, as though considering whether it was worth responding or not. She must have decided it was, because she replied, “I’ll show off if I want to.”

Barry just shook his head.

“You two,” he said. “I guess they’ve got a point, Adeline.”

The snake let out a huffing sound.

“Not everyone is impressed by an overgrown lizard,” she said loftily, and hid her head in Barry’s shirt. Blue hissed in outrage, and looked like she was going to climb over the commissary table to get to Adeline before Owen firmly put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Easy, Blue. Eyes on me.”

Blue swung her head to look at him, and Owen stared her down. Blue let out a disgusted sound, but settled down again. Barry watched the by-play a little warily.

“She doesn’t like anyone much, does she?” Barry observed.

“She likes Adeline just fine,” said Owen, because Blue had told him so, a while ago. “She’s just temperamental.”

“If that’s how she reacts to a daemon she likes, I’d hate to see how she reacts to a daemon she hates,” Barry commented.

Owen’s mind flashed back to the incident with the bully back in high school, and two or three similar incidents that had occurred since. He kept his face impassive.

“You’re a strange man, Owen,” Barry said after a moment. “You seem friendly enough, but your daemon looks like she’s ready to tear someone apart without a moment’s hesitation. And the word is you’ve been doting on that raptor they’ve given you to look after, even though it’s a man-killing dinosaur.”

Owen shrugged, because there wasn’t much to say to that.

“I have layers.”

“Like an onion?” Barry joked, with a faint grin. “I believe it.”

Owen glanced at his watch as he finished his lunch, and sighed.

“I’d better get back, it’s only ten minutes until Delta’s next feed,” he said. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”       

“Looking forward to it,” said Barry jovially, and the two of them parted ways, Blue’s claws clicking on the laminated floor as she followed Owen out of the commissary.


	4. On the Job

**Chapter Four**

“I take back everything I said about looking forward to this,” Barry grunted, three days into his new job.

“Please, you’ve got it way easier than I did when I started,” said Owen, unmoved by Barry’s complaints.

Besides feeding Delta every two hours, the two men were responsible for cleaning her pen every day, keeping her water bowl full of clean water, keeping her meat order up, preparing her meals, and writing reports on Delta’s progress. On top of that, they were supposed to interact regularly with the baby raptor.

Barry and Owen had taken to basically living in the room the raptor pen was in, aside from taking breaks to eat and sleep. They did so in shifts, so that one of them was always present in case Delta needed something. By this point the area outside the raptor pen had been filled with two chairs, a small table, a range of snacks and full water bottles, and the laptops which Barry and Owen used to type up and send in their reports.

The experience was definitely tiring, but as Owen had said, it was better than what he’d been expected to do when he’d first started looking after Delta, on his own.

“That doesn’t mean this doesn’t suck,” Barry retorted, in response to Owen’s words. “At least working with the Baryonyx I used to get time to myself in the evening. Here, the work never stops. I can’t even go home except to sleep for a few hours, and then it starts all over again.”

“I think that’s called a normal working life,” Owen mused, making Barry roll his eyes.

“There is nothing normal about being a surrogate parent to an animal that went extinct seventy-one million years ago,” Barry groused.

Adeline nosed his head gently in sympathy, and Barry automatically reached up to stroke her long serpentine body.

“It’s not so bad,” Adeline told him. “And you told me you think the raptor is kind of cute.”

“Shh,” Barry hushed her hastily, but too late.

“The truth is out!” said Owen triumphantly. “See, I knew you couldn’t think this was all bad. Look, it’s not going to be forever. It’s just until Delta and the others grow up a little, and then our schedule will be more normal.”

“They have to _make_ the other raptors, first,” said Barry. “And when they do, we’re going to be run off our feet, like you were the first few days.”

Owen winced a little, because yeah, those first few days had been rough.

“I’m not saying it’s not going to be hard. But look at Delta and tell me it’s not worth it,” Owen said.

Barry sighed.

“Fine. It’s worth it. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He grabbed his laptop off the table and opened it up, bringing the laptop out of sleep mode. Owen watched him for a moment.

“You’re playing games on that, aren’t you.”

“It’s not like we have anything else to do right this moment,” Barry said with a shrug. “What are you going to do, report me for taking a break?”

Owen let it go. He glanced over at Blue, who was inside the raptor pen with the baby raptor. The two of them were playing tug-of-war with one of the dog toys. Delta was firmly attached to one end by her snout, pulling on the toy as hard as she could, while Blue tugged gently on the other end, mindful of her greater strength.

Owen pulled out his phone and took a picture of the two of them. He saw Blue tilt her head slightly to look at him, and sensed her annoyance.

“Don’t be like that,” he told her. “You and Delta look adorable.”

Blue let go of the dog toy. Delta stumbled at the sudden lack of tension, before running off with the toy, letting out cries of victory.

“I am not _adorable_ ,” said Blue. She sounded offended.

“You kind of are, sometimes,” Adeline told her. “With the raptor, at least.”

“Shut up,” said Blue, and turned her back on both of them, settling down into a resting crouch. Delta’s attention was still on the dog toy, which she was play-savaging, her teeth leaving tiny holes in the plastic.

Owen made a mental note to remove the toys from the pen as soon as Delta was big enough to start tearing them apart: swallowing any of the plastic wouldn’t do her any good. Delta was growing at a phenomenal rate: even a week ago she’d been much smaller, whereas now she was big enough to carry around the dog toys by herself.

“You know, I didn’t expect Delta to grow so fast,” Owen commented. Barry glanced up from his laptop.

“Have you ever seen how fast a baby bird grows?” he asked Owen. “It isn’t so surprising. Dinosaurs became birds, after all.”

“I guess,” Owen replied. “It’s still pretty impressive.”

“I will give you that,” Barry agreed.

Owen watched Delta for a moment, as she gave up on the dog toy and went to pounce on Blue, who gently knocked the baby raptor away with her snout. Delta gave a hiss of displeasure, and made another attempt. This time Blue let out a warning growl, and Delta stopped trying to pounce on her.

Owen took another couple of photos of his daemon and the baby raptor, before putting his phone back in his pocket. Posting photos of Delta and Blue to his Facebook always got him a number of likes from his family and his old Navy buddies. Barry had recently set up an Instagram profile for Owen especially for his Delta photos, and Owen had already posted a number of them. He’d carefully selected the photos without Blue in them: those photos felt a little too personal to share with complete strangers on Instagram. Nonetheless, his Instagram account had proven reasonably popular so far.

A couple of photos had him and Barry in them, interacting with Delta; people had left comments about the ‘hot dinosaur keepers.’  Barry had laughed at that, and in the next photo of him that Owen had posted Barry had struck a deliberately seductive pose, while Delta attacked his boot laces.

It was something fun to do in-between work, and the photos promoted the park. All staff social media accounts had to be reported to the park’s social media guy so that he could monitor them for content, but so far Owen hadn’t been asked to take down or alter anything he’d posted on social media. He’d actually gotten a couple of emails congratulating him on his content, instead. One had been from the social media guy; the other had been from Claire Dearing.

Now there was an interesting woman, Owen thought. She was feminine, and clearly put a lot of effort into her appearance, but she was also cool-headed and mostly impervious to the day-to-day stresses of running the park, as far as Owen could tell. But what really made her remarkable was that she was completely fearless around Blue. So was her daemon. Owen had only met Dearing a couple of times so far, but he’d been impressed with how she had handled herself.

Owen wondered if she was single. He hadn’t heard any gossip about her seeing anyone, at least. And she was attractive, competent at her job, and wasn’t afraid of his daemon – that was a pretty good combination, as far as Owen was concerned.

“Hey, didn’t Dearing say that she was planning to drop in later this week to see Delta’s progress for herself?” Owen asked absently.

“Yeah, she sent an email a couple of days ago. Why?” Barry asked.

“No reason,” said Owen.

Blue regarded him with knowing eyes, and let out a snort.

* * *

Sure enough, a few days later Dearing dropped in to check in on Delta. She asked a number of questions of both Barry and Owen, peering into the pen and watching as Blue and Delta play-fought with each other.

Dearing’s mongoose daemon jumped down from her shoulder onto the barrier separating Delta from the rest of the room.

“Do you often play with the animal?” Owen heard the daemon ask Blue, while Owen and Barry and Dearing were engaged in conversation. Owen glanced sideways.

Blue raised her head to meet the other daemon’s eyes.

“Sometimes,” she said. “She’s the same species as me, after all.”

Owen’s eyebrows rose a little in surprise, and he listened to Barry and Dearing talk with only half an ear, more interested in the conversation occurring between his daemon and Dearing’s. It was rare for Blue to be civil to another daemon.

“But it’s not _actually_ like you,” the mongoose daemon persisted. “You’re a daemon. It’s an animal. There’s a fundamental difference.”

Blue tilted her head, and gave the other daemon a sly glance.

“Maybe not as much as you think,” she said. “Delta’s intelligent, much more so than you’d expect. Besides, I’m sure you’d feel differently if you met a real mongoose.”

The mongoose daemon regarded her for a moment.

“Perhaps,” he said. “I’m Tony, by the way. What’s your name?”

“Blue,” Owen’s daemon said, looking at the mongoose daemon thoughtfully.

Owen’s attention was pulled back to the human conversation then, by Dearing asking him a question about Delta’s growth rate. Owen told her how much Delta had grown in the last week – measuring her size was one of his daily tasks – and added, a little cheekily, that it was all in the reports he’d been sending in.

Dearing took that with good grace, saying that she hadn’t had the chance to read yesterday’s report yet.

“But I’ve read the previous ones, and your reports have been very thorough,” she added.

They talked a little bit more, before Tony ran over to Dearing, who crouched down to lift him up onto her shoulder.

“Before you leave,” Owen said, aiming for casual, “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out sometime.”

Dearing looked surprised. Her gaze darted over Owen for a moment, as though she were seeing him properly for the first time, before her gaze went to her daemon as though seeking his opinion.

She looked back at Owen.

“I… yes,” she said, and Owen thought she looked rather pleased. “I think I’d like that.”

“Are you free tonight?” he asked, and tried not to feel disappointed when she shook her head.

“No, but I’m free tomorrow evening,” she said. “I think.”

Owen glanced at Barry, who looked long-suffering, but nodded, indicating that he’d cover for Owen.

Owen looked back at Dearing, and smiled.

“How about we meet outside the labs at quarter to seven?” he asked.

“That sounds fine,” said Dearing. “Quarter to seven it is, Mr Grady.”

“Call me Owen, please,” Owen said.

Dearing smiled a little.

“Claire, then,” she said.

“Claire,” Owen repeated. “Well, Claire, I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

Claire gave him a small smile, nodded to Barry, and left the room with Tony riding on her shoulder. Owen watched her go.

The moment she was gone, Barry said, “So Ms Dearing’s your type, huh? Why am I surprised?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Owen said, grinning. Barry just shook his head.


	5. Misadventures in Dating

**Chapter Five**

The date did not go well.

Owen turned up outside the lab building at the appointed time. He hadn’t brought any formal clothes with him to the park, but things on the island tended to be pretty casual, so he wasn’t worried about his outfit.

His first inkling that this might have been the wrong approach to take was when he caught sight of Claire. She was dressed up to the nines in a blue cocktail dress and heels. Owen’s breath caught at the sight of her.

He was about to tell Claire how great she looked when she demanded, in unflattering tones: “Are those _board shorts?_ ”

“I think they are,” said Tony disdainfully.

Owen glanced down at his shorts.

“Uh, yeah?”

“You’re wearing _board shorts_ on a date?” Claire looked displeased, to say the least.

“What?” Owen asked defensively. He was beginning to realise that maybe, he should have worn something else. “It’s hot. Besides, it’s not like anyone cares.”

Blue trilled in agreement.

“ _I_ care,” said Claire, her expression shifting into something offended. For a moment they stood there, in their vastly different outfits, just staring at each other with varying emotions.

“I’m sorry?” Owen tried. Claire took a deep breath.

“Okay. Fine,” she said stiffly, clutching her purse. “I made a booking at the Hilton’s restaurant, so we can go there for dinner, and after that we can–”

“Wait, wait,” Owen interrupted. “Did you make an _itinerary?_ ”

“I suppose so,” said Claire. “Yes.”

“Without asking me?” Owen persisted.

“Well, _someone_ had to do it,” Claire snapped back, and then shook her head. “This was a mistake.”

“Claire–” Owen began, but Claire cut him off with a wave of her hand.

“This isn’t going to work,” she said shortly. “I’m sorry to have taken up any of your time this evening, Mr Grady. If you’ll excuse me, I have a dinner booking to get to.”

And without another word – without waiting for Owen’s response – Claire turned and walked away, leaving Owen standing there, looking like a fool.

Tony gave Blue one last look.

“Sorry,” he offered, before bounding after Claire.

Owen stormed into the lab building, fuming, while Blue stalked after him making little clicks and hissing noises that scared away everyone in their way. Barry took one look at the pair of them as they walked into the raptor nursery and said, “That bad, huh?”

“Who plans an _itinerary_ for a date?” Owen exploded. “And what’s wrong with board shorts? It’s not like I decided to bring a suit with me to work on an island full of dinosaurs!”

Barry waited until he was certain that Owen was done yelling, then said:

“You could have dressed up a little, you know.”

Owen slumped, some of the fire going out of him.

“This is seriously the only outfit I have that isn’t covered with mud – or worse. I didn’t think I was going to need formal wear out here,” he complained.

“Come on, man,” said Barry. “Women have standards for this kind of thing. Especially Dearing. You can tell just by what she wears. I bet she dressed up really nice for you, too.”

“Maybe,” Owen said sullenly. Barry raised his eyebrows.

“Okay, she did. She looked stunning,” Owen admitted. “In this fancy blue dress that looked great. But she didn’t even give me a chance!”

“I’m sorry,” said Barry. “Really, I am. But board shorts? On a date? No wonder she was upset.”

“Barry? Not helping,” said Owen, while Blue snarled.

“I get why he’s angry, but why are _you?_ ” Adeline asked Blue.

“Because he messed up, and now I won’t get the chance to talk to her daemon again,” Blue said savagely. “I liked him.”

Barry blinked at that, and sent Owen a sly glance.

“I guess you really liked her, if even Blue likes her daemon,” he commented. Owen sighed.

“She’s pretty much the only woman I’ve ever met who wasn’t scared of Blue,” he admitted. “It was nice, you know? I thought maybe things had a chance of working out. Even if she is basically my boss.”

Barry looked sympathetic.

“That’s rough, Owen.”

“Yeah,” Owen said, with another sigh. He dropped into one of the chairs. “You might as well go to dinner, I’ll stay and watch Delta.”

“What about your dinner?” Barry inquired.

“I’ll have it when you get back. Right now I’m too mad to eat,” Owen told him.

Barry gave him a brief look of concern.

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“Go,” Owen told him, and Barry went, Adeline slithering after him.

Owen sat there for a while, nursing his hurt feelings. Blue crouched down and rested her head on his shoulder.

“You should play music,” she said. “That always cheers you up.”

“I’m not in the mood.”

Blue let out a hiss, and whacked Owen on the side of her head with her snout.

“Ow! _Blue!_ ”

Owen rubbed at his head, glaring.

“Put some music on,” Blue said imperiously, and Owen gave in.

“Jeez, someone’s getting too big for their boots,” he said, as he opened iTunes and turned the volume up on the laptop. He picked a song, and it began to play

As soon as the music started, there was a curious trill from the raptor pen, and Delta emerged from her sleeping box, listening to the music.

“This is better,” said Blue.

“Whatever,” Owen muttered. He still wasn’t in the mood for music.

He couldn’t believe that Claire had just walked away like that. He’d been really looking forward to their date, and then they hadn’t even made it to dinner before the date was over. How had things gone so badly?

With a sigh, Owen leaned back in his chair, listening to the music. He hoped that Blue’s idea worked, and that the music would cheer him up a little.

As it turned out, Blue was right.

When Barry and Adeline  came back from dinner some time later, it was to find a Genesis song playing over the laptop speakers, and Owen and Blue singing along.

“What on Earth,” said Barry, staring. Delta was making crooning noises, apparently trying to imitate Blue and Owen’s singing. Owen stopped singing at Barry’s sudden appearance, but Blue didn’t.

“ _She seems to have an invisible touch… she reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart_ ,” Blue sang.

“I like it,” Adeline declared, and began humming along.

Barry just stood there in bemusement.

Owen leaned over, and clicked the iTunes ‘pause’ icon. There was an angry hiss from Blue and a disappointed ‘aww’ from Adeline.

“Not that I mind your choice in music,” said Barry, “but Owen, what the hell?”

Owen shrugged, a little uncomfortable at having been caught singing along.

“Blue wanted music,” he said simply. “Figured it would lift my mood.”

“Did it help?” Barry asked.

“A little. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still annoyed, but… I guess I can see why Claire was upset, after going to all that effort to dress up.” Owen said with a shrug. “Still burns, though.” He shook his head, and looked back at Barry. “If you’re back, me and Blue will head off for dinner.”

“Yeah, we’re back,” Barry said, glancing into the raptor pen. “You fed the little one while we were gone?”

“Yeah,” Owen confirmed. “Next feed isn’t for another–” he checked his watch, “–fifty minutes.”

“Alright then,” said Barry.

“See you later,” said Owen, and he headed out of the raptor nursery and out of the lab building, walking towards the staff commissary building.

Blue fell into step beside Owen.

“You’ll find someone eventually,” she told him.

“Hopefully,” said Owen. He reached up to scratch Blue’s eye ridges, and she let out a trill of pleasure. “You were right about the music. It did cheer me up.”

“See?” Blue said.

“Yeah, I know,” said Owen. “What would I do without you?”

Blue made a smug noise, and the two of them continued onwards towards the commissary.

* * *

It seemed like no time at all before Delta raptor reached her first month. Everything had been going smoothly, as expected, and the scientists agreed to produce another raptor embryo.

It took a little over a month before the egg hatched, and little Echo joined Delta in the raptor nursery. There was some anxiety at first over whether the two dinosaurs would co-exist in harmony; raptors were predators, after all, and while young, Delta still had predatory instincts, and was quite a bit bigger than her new sister. But Delta seemed to understand that Echo was young and vulnerable, and didn’t playfully attack the younger raptor the way she did Owen, Blue, and Barry when they entered the raptor pen.

It was at about this time Vic started coming around more often, asking Owen pointed questions about whether the animals were trainable. Owen genuinely didn’t have an answer, and irritably told Vic so. While Owen was willing to attempt to train the raptors, they were still too young. Privately, Owen thought that while the raptors were intelligent enough to be trained, it was unlikely that they would ever be docile enough. (He’d read Dr Grant’s paper on the behaviour of the original Jurassic Park raptors, after all.) Still, Delta had so far shown herself to be more social than the scientists had expected, even considering the fiddling they’d done with her genetic make up, so maybe there was hope. It was certainly an intriguing idea.

“What do you mean?” Owen had asked, when Dr Wu mentioned that he’d made alterations the raptors’ genetic code. Dr Wu had paused to explain, while his monkey daemon swung off the light fixture in the ceiling.

“I’m sure that you’re aware that we sometimes use frog or avian DNA as a substitute where there are gaps in the original genetic code,” Dr Wu said, and Owen pulled his gaze away from Dr Wu’s daemon to nod in agreement. Blue continued to watch the monkey daemon closely.

“I’ve seen the video the lab plays for the tourists,” Owen said.

“Well, we’ve deliberately replaced some of the original DNA sequences in order to make our raptors more sociable,” said Dr Wu matter-of-factly. “The first raptors I ever produced replicated the original sample DNA as closely as possible, however the result was not exactly safe. Have you read Alan Grant’s paper on the first raptors, Mr Grady?”

“I have,” Owen said.

“Then you know that the raptors were intelligent, vicious, and the complete opposite of domesticated,” said Dr Wu. “We had eight originally; all but two were killed by the alpha. When they escaped, they killed a number of people, a number which likely would have been far larger if most of the staff hadn’t left the island for the day shortly before the tragedy occurred.” Dr Wu looked Owen in the eye. “This time around, we didn’t want a repeat of that scenario.”

“So, what, you aimed for…. domesticated raptors?” Owen asked.

Dr Wu smiled indulgently.

“‘Domesticated’ is too strong a word, but certainly raptors which may, with training, become more docile and obedient than the previous batch,” he said. “After all, this park is, at its heart, a tourist attraction. On some level, people need to be able to interact with the animals, even if it’s only from a protected viewing room, as with the Baryonyx or the T-rex.”

“Right,” said Owen, with a slight frown. While he had of course noticed that Delta and Echo seemed to behave differently from the raptors Dr Grant had described, Owen had put that down to their young age – he’d assumed that they would become more dangerous with age, as with most wild animals. But if what Dr Wu was telling him was true, then it was possible that the raptors’ half-tame behaviour might last into adulthood.

“Well, thanks for explaining,” said Owen, and Dr Wu smiled.

“No problem at all,” he assured Owen, before glancing at his watch. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Owen had watched him go, feeling oddly troubled by the other man’s explanation. Blue noticed, and nudged him.

“You wouldn’t want them any different, anyway,” she said briskly.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Owen said, his tone pensive.

Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if playing around with the raptors’ DNA had really been such a great idea.

Owen told himself that he was worrying over nothing, and went to feed Echo her next meal.


End file.
